Road-bed cultivator.



W. R. SCOTT. ROAD BED CULTIVATOR. APPLiCATlON F |LED 1m 22. 1915.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

4 SHEETSSH EET l.

A TTOR/VE Y WITNESS w. 3. SCOTT.

ROADBED CULTIVATOR. APPLICATION FILED mm; 22. i915.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'- WIT/V598 INVENTOI? H %mm A Jazt A TTOR/VEV W. R. SCOTT.

ROAD BED CULTIVATOR. APPLICATION FILED luubzz. 1915.

1 ,178,880 Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEE'I 3.

A TTOBWEY w. R. SCOTT.

ROAD BED CULTIVATOR.

APP'LICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1915- o T o a |P o g l 3 I LL WITNESS I Q INVENTOR A TTOR/VEY UNITED, ST S PATENT OFFICE.

1; I I i I j WILLIAM R. sco'rr, OEBEBKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

ROAD-Bap CULTIVATOR.

a, To all what; am, mam.- Beit' known that I, VVILLIA'M R. Sco'r'r,

a citizen ofthe United States, residing at 'Berkeley,in the ecounty of Alameda and 5 State of Califorma, have invented certain .new and useful Improvements in Road-Bed Cultivators, -of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an implement or.

machine, for economically and efliciently treating a railway roadbed to secure its bet ter maintenance, which implement or machine, from the nature of i'& work and result reached, may properly be termed a roadbedcultivato1fl' V The object of my invention will be readily "understood from a brief statement" of .the

problem presented;

In'the art of railroading one of the prin-- v clpal ltem's of, expense is ,themaintenance of track. A, very substantial amount of the cost of track maintenance lies in .keeping proper drainage to theties and in keeping the ballast free from weeds. The reason for '25 this excessive cost,v is due to the fact that all the workhas to be done by hand, no suitable device beingonthe market for handling this phase of trackmaintenance; p

It is'a well-known fact that, owing to the constant-rolling of locomotives and trains over thei'track, the entire weight is transmitted through the ties to that portion of the roadbed directly underithe ties. There fore, there is a tendency to pack the ballast 5 or other track material under the ties very hard, and'to settle the ballast around their "ends, thereby preventing water from readily draining from under "the tie, and'causing it v tofchurn with a pumping action, resulting 40 in loose ties and uneven roadbed.

- It is also a well-known fact that in rockor gravel'ballast thei'e'is a tendency forthe coarse gravel to roll to the bottom of theslope or toe line of the track section, leaving the finer ballast around the end of the tie and extending to the bottom thereof, fall of which has a tendency to, retard the drainage. My invention presents a solution of this problem, in that it providesamachine or implement capable of keeping the ballast free from weeds, and of' so treating and manipulating itasto-form it into andleave it in the best condition for drama'ge.

. To this. end my'lnvention. consists in the novel roadbed cultivator which I shall hereelements upon the other side. 'Mount'ed on the slde of the car 1 are'th dependlng guide brackets 6 upon which areinafter fully describe, by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of my roadbed v, cultivator, showing the various operating members, of one side thereof mounted upon a suitable supporting car. Fig. 2 is a plan 1 view of the same, the operatingmembers;

on one side being showniin position for use I andthose on the other side belng indicated iripositionout of use. .Fig'. 3 i n en 319-- -vation showing the operating parts on each side,'as in Fig. 2; Figs. 4 and 5 are, respecti ely, a side elevation and an end elevation" of the plows of my cultivator, showing theirf attachment to the ear frame. Figs. (5, 7 andjf) 8 are, respectively, aside elevation, an {end} elevation, and a partsectional plan of the I first scraper, and. its operatmg mechanismff In the drawings, in allof which like char-1 actors of reference indicate correspondin parts,-l is a car, of any suitableform and; size, its wheels 2 running on the rails 3 laid upon the ties 4 set in the roadbed 5.

The various members hereinafter dei-I 1f scribed are divided into two identical 'sets', 39 one set mounted upon each, side of the car;

Therefore, although I shall confine myself i:

to a description of the elements appearing upon one side of said car, it is uhderstoodf 4 that such description applies equally to the slidably mounted for vertical adjustment the] sleeves 7 carryingthe connect1n'gcross bar 9 8. The outwardly or laterally extending" 1 arms 9 are pivotally mounted on the cros's-=* bar 8, and carry at their outer ends the plow beams lOand 11 from which are carried'rspectively the plow-bottoms 12 and 13,. set; with the mold-board's toward the rails. It will'be seen by reference to Figs. I',- t-

1 and 5 of the drawings, that the'plo'w 12 is" slightly in advance'of, higher, and closer to the rail than the plow 13, the reasons for which Will be hereinafter set forth. The

arms 9, carrying the plow' beams 10 and 11, i 'l have been described as pivoted to the bar 8. The solid frame-work thus formed by the arms 9 and the plow-beams lOand 11 'can'be raised or lowered at its outer end by the cylinder 1%, containing a piston, not shown inthe drawings, operatable by any suitable fluid under pressure, the movement of said piston being. communicated tothe: arms 91 Y Patented Apr. 11, 19-16, Applicationfiled June 22,1915... serialmsam; i

Fixed to the side of the car '1 in the rear of theplow assembly just described, are the guides 20. Bars 21.are arranged to slide vertically within said guides. These verti- 'cal bars 21 carry at theirlower ends the 'vertically disposed scraper shoe'22 which is- -shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 of the drawings,

to be. formed with a forward section 23 which lies parallel and close to the rail, the

toe of said section being rounded up at its bottom edge, as at 24 in Fig. 6. The main body '25 of the shoe 22 has a horizontal lower edge, and is set at an angle to the line of the rail; A cylinder 26co'ntaining a fluid-open .ated piston, not shown in the drawings, is attached to the ear. frame, 1 between the vertical bars 21, and is arrangedto raise or lower said bars 21, with the attached scraper 22, by means of the .piston rod 27, and the I cross head 28.

In the rear of the scraper-assembly just described, are secured to the car 1 the fixed vertical guides 29, shown particularly in- Fig. 1. The carrying bar 30 is adapted to slide in a vertical direction between the guides 29, and, has the shaper 31 connected to its lower end by the vertical pii'ot coupling or hinge 32. The shaper 31 consists of a vertically disposed plate or blade extending, when in use, in a substantially lateral direction from the side of the car, its lower or cutting edge being formed to follow the cross-sectional contour of the roadbed. This lower edge therefore has a downwardly inclined portion 33, and extending from the outer and lower end thereof a horizontal portion 34. 'The outer end of the shaper 31 is supported vertically from the upper end of the carrying-bar 30,

by the adjustable brace rod 35, and it; is supported laterally by the brace 36, which brace is pivoted at 37 to the'back of the shaper 31, and at 38 to an adjustable slide 39, Working in the stationary horizontal guides 10 on the car. Thusby the movement of the slide 39, the shaper may be made to assume either an extended or a retracted position, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The carrying-bar 30, to which is attached in the manner described, the shaper 31, is provided with an inwardly extending bracket 11, which is connected by means of the rod 42 to the piston of a fluid cylinder .43, whereby said shaper 31 may be raised or lowered. A manually operated windlass 44: with the rope 45 running over the pulleys 46 is provided to take the place of the fluid cylinder 43, should necessitytherefor. arise.

the ties.

A tank 47 is mounted on the car 1, to act as a storage reservoir for the fluid used in the operating-cylinders.14, 26 and 43. This trolling valves 48 and'the pipes .49, which are only partly indicated in'the' drawings,

though sufficiently so to indicate their function.

The cofiperation of the several elements of my roadbed cultivator will now be described in order to show how the desired result is attained. The carbeing in motion, the arms'9 carrying the plows 12 and 13 are lowered, until the plow 12 cuts a furrow in the roadbed adjacent to the ends of I the ties 4, the bottom of said furrow being slightly below the level of the bottoms of The gravel or other material ofthe roadbed is thus thrown'by the plow 12 inwardly toward the rail'and up onto the ends of the ties 4. The gravel at this point,

that is, adjacent to the ends of theties, is, as before stated, finer than that farther down the slope of theroadbed, and it is a,

function of the upper plow 12 to remove this relatively fine gravel from the upper part of the roadbed and pile it temporarilyon the ends of the ties. The plow 13, following below and outside of the plow 12, throws the relatively coarse gravel of the lower portionof the slope of the roadbed up into the furrow made by the plow 12, the bottom of which furrow, as before stated, is slightly below the level of the bottoms of the ties. Thus free drainage is provided for that portion of the roadbed immediately below the ties. through the coarse gravel thrown up by the lower plow 13 into the "furrow made by the plow 12.

The horizontal scraper 22, following the plows, set, by its controllingmeans, to clear the tops of the tie-ends, the forward end 23 thereof running parallel and ad jacent to the rail. The inclined portion 2ft of said scraper scrapes the relatively fine gravel, which has been thrown up onto the tie-ends by the plow 12, off said tie-ends and over the edge of the roadbed, whereupon said gravel falls down into the lower furrow made by the plow 13. Thusby the cooperative action of the two plows 12 and 13 and the scraper 22, the relatively coarse gravel at the lower part of the slope of the roadbed, and the relativelyfine gravel at the upper part thereof, are made to change places. Finally, the shaper 31, following the plows 12 and 13 and the scraper 22, by its position and the form of its lower edge. smooths out any inequalities in the slope of the roadbed left by the plows and the scrapeli and forms said slope to the desired contnul'. Inasmuch as similar members are mounted-ofiboth'sides of theic'ar, but controlled by-'separate.;;mechanisms, the two sides of i :9 no y ot e treated slmultaneously as conven ence or necessity.

may direct? It willbe seen moreoverthat on account ofthe-adjustments and controllmg means provided for the fvarious members of my cultivator, said members may be made to operate successfully oyer, irregularities in the roadbed, as, for example, on

the component members,'without in anyway affecting theel'ements of my invention and I do not wish to be construed as' limiting myself to the particular forms and arrangement herein described.

I. In a railway roadbed cultivator, a car; means'carriedth'ereby and operating on the roadbed parallel with the rails and proximate to the ends ofthe cross-ties 'to turn the material'toward and upon said tie ends, a second means carried by the car and operating on the roadbed parallel with the line of operation of the first named means and in the rear thereof, to turn the material into the vacancydeft by said firstnamed means; and means carried by said car and following said second named means for directing outwardly away from the rails and t ies, the material turned upon themby the fii'st named means.

2. In all-railway roadbed cultivator, a car;

means carried thereby and operating on the roadbed, parallel with the" rails and proximate, to the ends of the cross-ties to turn the, material toward and upon said tie ends, a second means carried by thecar and operating on the roadbed parallel with the line of operationof the first named means and in the rear thereof, to turn the material {into the vacancy left, bysaid-first named means;- a third means carried by said car and following said second named means for directing outwardly away from the rails and ties, the material turned uponthem by the first named means; and means carried by said car and following said third named meansfor leveling and shaping the roadbed,

mined contour.

beyond theend's of the ties, to its predeter In a railway'roadbedcultivaton a carg.

a pair of plows carried thereby, oneof said plow's being.in advance of, out of line with,

and at a different level from the other plow,

the foremost, inner .and-nhigher plow being carried in position to'make ayfurrow i-n' the roadbed parallel withthe railsandfproximate-to the ends ofthecross-ties,the mold:

board of said p'low' being so positioned as to throw the material towardand upon the ends of said ties, and the other plow being carried in position to make a second furrow parallel to the first and at the toe. of the --roadbed slope, the mold-board of said other plowbeing so positioned as tothro'w the material into the first furrow and a scraper carried by said car behind said plows, in

position to move over the tie-ends and remove and, direct outwardly away from the rails and ties, the material thrown up by the inner plow. q

4. In a railway roadbed cultivator, a car;

a pair of plows carried thereby, one of said plows being in advance of, out of line with,

and ata different level from the other plow,

the foremost, inner and higher-plow being carried in position tomake a furrow in the roadbed parallel with the rails and proximate to the ends of the cross-ties, the moldboard of said plow being so positioned as to throw the material toward and upon the ends of saidties, and the other plow being carried in position to make asecond fun row parallel to the first and at the toe of the roadbed slope, the mold-board of said other plow being positioned to throw the material into the first furrow; a scraper carried by said carbehind'said plows, in position to .moveover' the tie-ends and remove and direct outwardly away from the rails and ties, the material thrown up by the inner plow; and a shaper blade carried by said car behind the scraper, in position to level and shape the roadbed, beyond the ends of the ties, to its predetermined contour.

5. In a-railway roadbed cultivator, a car;

means carried therebv and operating on the 1 roadbed, parallel with the rails, for turning the material along a line proximate to the tie-ends inwardly toward and upon the ends of the ties, and turning the material along an outer line into the space left vacant by the turning of the material along the first line, and a scraper carried by the car behind said turning means, said scraper riding over the tie ends, its inner end extending parallel with the rails, and thence inclined outwardly to the rear, to remove and-direct outwardly away from the railsand ties, the material. turned inwardly" from the first namedline. I

6. In a railway roadbed cultivator, a car; means carried thereby and operating on the roadbed, parallel with the rails, for turning an outer line into the spaceleft vacant by the turning of the material along the first line,

meanscarried by the car behind said turning means for directing outwardly away from the railsand ties, the material thrown inwardly from the first named'line; a shaper blade-carried by the car behind the said directing means, said blade having a functional. edge conforming to the predetermined contour for theroadbedpand means fol-ad justing the inclination of said shap'er .b1ade.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this-specification inthe pr'es'ence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

E. J. MURPInf,

' E. J. FOULDS:

WILLIAM R. scorn 

